Frigidaire Custom Imperial double wall oven, RBG?-99 CH

[rchambers28]

I am trying to find out more information on my stove, but am coming up short on the internet. I will post a photo when I get home, but am wondering if anyone can tell me the year my model was made? Made in Dayton, OH, model tag doesn't say anything about it being a Frigidaire - GE, just Frigidaire. It's not a Flair version either. After googling numerous times, I have no idea if it's from the late 50's, 60's or 70's, though I think possibly it's from the 50's.

Would like to get info becuase just within the past few months, it no longer heats like it should (gets hot, but but not to the temp set). I'm hoping it just needs a new heating element. I love my oven and would rather keep using it if I can find the parts to fix it.

Please and thank you for any pertinent info!

 

[philr]

If it looks like mine, it's a RBGZ-99

 



 

 

There are also newer models

 

RBGB-99 below

 

One of the ovens doesn't heat to it's temperature? Does the bake element gets red when heating? If it doesn't, you can try switching it with the element from the other oven.

These oven use plug-in bake elements so you can interchange them easily. Look for pitting on the contact blades while they're removed, dirt and pitting can cause bad contacts which cause other problems... 

 

If the oven just barely gets warm, it's because the broil element works on 118 volts when the oven is turn on. That's not enough to get the oven more than warm... 

 

[rchambers28]

Thank you for the quick response! That is my model. Funny, I tried googling that model (with the Z) and didn't get any information back. Any idea of the year it was made?

I will try switching out the bottom for the top oven heating element, but the bottom never heated very well to begin with. Hopefully I can find the correct size element and just replace both of them. Is is a common size that's still made?

 

[philr]

Try RBGZ-99C!

In Fact, mine is a Canadian model so it has a "C" after the 99. The main difference with the US model is the wiring 

Google Search

 

Here's my instruction manual:

Flickr Search

www.flickr.com

 

The years for the "Z" models are 1958-59. I just got the oven that I showed you and it was in a house that was built in 1961 along with a 1961 cooktop so it was probably two years old when it was sold new!

 

I know that most wall ovens are now 27" or more... And being a double oven, it's probably hard to find a replacement that fits there. But if you have a chance, take a picture of your heating element connectors. You can also test them with an ohmmeter to see if they're good or not.

 

The "Bake" lights do come on when the ovens are baking? I guess they are. Normally, when the oven reaches it's set temperature, they should go off and then cycle on and off as the thermostat cycles to maintain the desired temperature. I don't know how familiar you are to how an oven works but I just want to make sure that you know that the thermostat cycles the full power to the lower element when the oven bakes and it sends 118 volts to the upper broil element just to make it warm (not red hot). There's nothing very complicated in how it works. 

The most common source of problems with these ovens are the connectors for the bake elements (both the male part on the element and the female part in the oven) which, because of dirt or rust, can have bad contacts which leads to pitting/melting of these parts and the wires at the back of the range. There are signs that it's going to happen when you remove the elements for cleaning and notice that they are pitted or loose, they can also make a hissing noise as the contacts arc.

 

Do you ever see one of the bake elements glowing red when the "bake" light is on? They should. If they don't, you'll need to check more things.

 

 

 

[rchambers28]

My model # is RBGB-99CH. . . Finally figured it out. Still can't find anything online for it
I did notice last night the elements aren't turning red so I need to find a new element, the bottom one never worked we'll to begin with. But I will also try to clean the connector points and see if that helps.
Thank you for the advice and quick tutorial on how ovens work, I don't know any of that stuff so it's very helpful!
Here's a photo of my oven:

 

[philr]

That's the 1960-61 model.

 

Do you have a multimeter? First you should see if the elements are still good or not. They could be good and not heating because of bad wiring, bad connectors or bad thermostats..

 

Since they are the easiest to test, without pulling the wall oven from it's location, they can and should be tested first but don't presume they are bad just because they are not heating!

 With the oven turned off, you just need to pull on the lower bake elements to disconnect them (don't try that with the top broil elements, they are not designed to be removed!), then with a multimeter set on the ohmmeter function, you can see if there is resistance (good) or if it's open or shorted (bad). The center connector is the safety ground and testing the conductivity between this connector and either of the two other connectors should show no current passing between these. Now, if you put the probes of the ohmmeter on each of the two exterior terminals, there should be some current passing through them. You should see a reading. 

 

If you don't have a multimeter, usually, you can get a cheap one at various stores for $10-$20 and it's a useful tool for anyone!

 

If you're wondering how a Ohmmeter works, it's simply powered by a small battery that sends a small amount of current (nothing that can harm you!) through the circuit you test with it. Then it reads how much is lost in the circuit (the resistance).

 

Heating elements are made of a conductive material that doesn't conduct electricity too well. The resistance allows to produce heat (a lot of resistance means not a lot of heat and very low resistance means a lot of heat). With the low current sent by the ohmmeter, it doesn't produce any heat but when connected to a 240 volts circuit, something else happens!

The rest of the wiring and connectors need to be very good conductors, otherwise they'd also produce some heat when your oven is turned on and they're designed to handle some heat but at some point, they fail!

After years of use, some connectors and switches (like those in the thermostat) can become dirty and become resistive. When that happens, the heat can damage them to the point they aren't working anymore! So if the heating elements are fine, you need to look for bad connectors, burnt wires (often near the bad contact) and for a thermostat with burned contacts from the repetitive on/off cycle and dirt caused by the electrical arcing produced every time the thermostat cycles. 

 

I didn't watch the whole video but this guy explains how to use an ohmmeter. It will probably help a bit if you aren't too familiar with using one!

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocvaqGzvE2I

 

[combo52]

Old FD Wall Oven Problems

Pull out both Bake Elements and inspect the outer terminals, if they are badly pitted and rusted you need to replace the heating elements AND the female terminals that they mate with. The problem is the female terminals are long ago NLA and you also need to remove the complete wall oven from the cabinet and replace the terminals from the rear. You generally CANNOT file and clean-up old rusted and pitted terminals and have them last any time at all, once they have been heated and distempered they need replacement.

You should also inspect the terminals on both broiler elements while you are at it, and it is also likely that you will find some burned and discolored wiring in several places in this oven that needs to be repaired if you expect this oven to work properly for very long.

These were pretty good ovens in their day but they will probably need some work unless they had almost no use before you got them.

 

[rchambers28]

Sad news

FINALLY had time to mess with the oven. Despite how bad the connectors look, it's not the heating element. I took it out and put it in the bottom oven where it turned bright red when on.
So It's the female connector part, I guess. Which, It sounds like a huge undertaking to repair. I'm scared if I pull it our of the wall them something else will go wrong. Will have rethink this whole thing. But I guess the good news is that the bottom still works, even if it never worked well to begin with.